Vertical axis cycloidal propellers



" Nov. 11, 1958 1 H. F. MUELLER VERTICAL AXIS CYCLOIDAL PROPELLERS 3 Shasta-Sheet 1 Filed March 2,, 1956 INVENTOR. Hans f-T Mueller A ti'orneg Nov. 11,1958 HfF-I MUELLER 2,859,829

VERTICAL AXIS CYCLOIDAL PROPELLERS Filed March 2, 1956 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Atf c i F neg 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 2, 1956 INVENTOR. F. Mae/her" A t 0 rwey um hw mm +m Q% 9w W *3 g 7. la mm mm m Nb b3 mm /X/ -f A/ w h aw WN% R sw W 7 iiwl W w h E @N v fi 7 .1 wm 5 2 Y, i K a Q United States Patent F 2,859,829 VERTICAL AXIS CYCLOIDAL PROPELLERS Hans F. Mueller, Playa Del Rey, Calif., assignor to Vertical Axis Propellers, Inc., Renton, Wash.

Application March 2, 1956, Serial No. 569,203 3 Claims. (Cl. 170147) disassembly from the top was essential to enable in-- spection, exchange or replacement of parts of the blade drive mechanism which may have become worn or damaged.

It is the main object of the instant invention to provide for the easy access and exchange of all parts of a vertical axis propeller assembly,- including the blade control linkage, whereby interchange of parts and repairs may be made without lifting the propeller from the boat and without subsequent complete dismantlement.

More specifically the invention comprehends the provision of a rotor shell or housing for the propeller blades and control units therefor, in which the housing and assembly is designed to be removed in sections permitting inspection and repair of certain elements of the assembly enclosed bythe'housing sections.

.Another object of the invention is the' provision of a housing and assembly in which the parts are constructed and arranged for sequential removal, repair and replacement.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly hereinafter appear by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the instant application, wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which:

Fig. 1 is a transverse partial sectional view of the construction in assembled position;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1 showing one of the propeller blades and its associated linkage;

Ice...

2 face of the cylindrical wall 3 with the outer face of the propeller housing 6 and extending tangentially of the latter as clearly shown in the drawings. The inner portion 6 of the annular propeller blade housing is formed with an arcuate slot 10 extending from the plate 7 a suitable distance permitting movement of the crank arm 5. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the annular flat rings 1 and 2 are formed of relatively heavy material with the connecting web structure formed by the vertical shell wall 3 and by the propeller housings at 6 and 6 forming a relatively thin web bracing.

The upper marginal edge portion of the propeller blade housing 6, 6 provides a supporting structure for the closure caps 14 which seal the upper end of the propeller blade housing and also acts as a bearing guide for the upper end of the propeller blade shank 15. The lower portion of the propeller blade housing 6 includes the inwardly extending inner hub 18 which receives the bearing assembly- 19 for the lower portion of the shank. Packing means 20 are located about the shank and in the annular recess 21 of the lower portion of blade housing 6, being held in place by bolts 22.

The upper plate 1 of the rotor shell assembly or housing is formed at the top of the inner annular marginal edge with a reduced portion 25 which defines a hori- Zontal flange terminating at shoulder 26 formed by the inner face of the cylindrical wall or web 3. The horizontal flange 25 is formed with threaded bolt openings 27 for the reception of bolts 28 which secure the top closure plate 29 thereto.

.' upper portion of the shell assembly except for a medial Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the disclosure of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a section on line'6-6 of Fig. 5.

The main rotor shell or housing is formed of a pair of flat, spaced, parallel, relatively heavy rings orplates 1 and 2 connected at, their inner marginal edges by a preferably cylindrical wall 3. A plurality of elongated arcuate ports 4 are provided in the wall 3, the number of ports being determined by the number of propeller blades to be utilized in the assembly and the openings being for the purpose of permitting the passage of the connecting rods 5 therethrough and into the radially extending propeller blade housings 6 to the propeller blade lever for actuation of the blade. The propeller blade housings 6 are formed integral with the shell structure by connection of the inner arcuate portions 6* of the housings with the plates 1 and 2 as an integral extension thereof, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Connecting plates 7 7, 7 are flat and extend vertically, connecting the outerv opening 30 formed therein and defined further by the upwardly projecting annular flange 31. The cover plate 29 adjacent the upwardly projecting annular flange 31 is provided with a series of threaded bolt openings 40 for receiving .bolts 41 which secure the upper steering ring plate 42 in position against the bottom face of the cover plate 29 when the parts are being dissembled as will more clearly hereinafter appear. The plate 42 forming the upper section of the steering ring is provided with a downwardly extending annular neck 43 which houses the spherical bearing formed by upper half 32 and lower half 44 for embracing the ball 33 at the lower end of the control stick 34. The crosshead bearings 45 have oppositely extending pins 46 for fitting in the aligned openings 47 in the upper steering plate 42 and in the lower steering plate 50 forming the steering ring. The lower plate50 is provided with bolt openings 51 to register with threaded bolt openings 52 in the neck flange 43 of the annular neck 43 for the reception of screws 53,

and when so'positioned will hold the crosshead bearing ,recess 58 to close the annular opening formed by the cylindrical wall 3 containing the assembly heretofore described, the bolts 59 being used to secure the plate in position by engagement in the threaded recesses 60 as shown.

In the present disclosure the drive transmitting tube is shown with the horizontal annular thrust bearing flange 61, downwardly inclined medial portion 61 and thickened marginal edge portion 62 which is bolted by bolts 63 to the top ring 1 of the rotor housing for transmitting rotary motion from the source of power. The double yoke 65 having the pivot bearing 66 for the control stick 34 is provided with the marginal bearing portion 69 which abuts against the bearing surface 67 at its top and against the bearing surface 67 of the top cover plate 29. During overhaul it may be desirable at The top closure plate 29 closes the times to rebabbitt the annular bearing portion 67 and in this connection the rotor may be brazed from underneath or held by lugs temporarily bolted or welded onto the propeller well. The double conical yoke 65 can readily be detached from the central control head Which Is mounted on top of the main housing.

The linkage which generates an amplified cycloidal blade motion, while disclosed in the present assembly for the purpose of illustrating the relationship between the several parts, is not claimed specifically as the invention in the present application, the invention residing in the rotor shell or housing structure which embodies the construction and arrangement of parts whereby inspection, replacement and repair is made practical without removing the complete assembly from the ship and through the top structure. The linkage assembly (Fig. 2) includes the elbow lever 8 connected at one end to the rod 5 by the removable pin 59 and mounted in the brackets 60 by bolts 61 whicl1 secure the brackets to the inner face of the shell. Obviously the cross-head assembly 45 is removable with the bracket 60 and elbow lever 8 upon removal of pin 59, the bracket and the lower steering plate 50. Prior to this operation, the upper steering plate 42 is fixed to the top plate 29 by bolts 41 which when seated hold the top steering plate 42 centered and fixed to top plate 29. The connecting rod 5 when disconnected from the elbow lever by removal of pin 59 is laterally displaced into the propeller housing 6 by outboard turn of the blade shank of the propeller having the shank terminal 15, as shown in dotted line in Fig. 2 by reference character 5 The lower plate 50 of the steering ring is linked with the bottom closure plate 55 through an Oldham couphng to enforce a synchronous motion of the steering ring with the propeller rotor. For sake of clarity, the Oldham-coupling is omitted in Figs. 1-3.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 there is a disclosure embodying the same general concept but in which the control linkage produces a sinusoidal blade motion. In these figures the parts similar to or corresponding to the same parts in that form of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 have been supplied the same reference characters. The primary differences in the modification of Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is the bottom closure plate and the mounting of the steering ring on the top face of this bottom closure plate. The steering ring is of the same general type as in the first modification embodying the upper plate 70, the lower plate 71 and the connecting reduced neck 72 in which latter is the bearing 7332 for receiving the ball 33 at the lower end of the control stick. The bottom closure plate is formed of spaced upper and lower discs 75 and 76, respectively, connected together by the marginal web 77 and the inner web 78. An annular flange 79 is provided for connection with the shoulder 60 of the rotor shell and bolts 80 extend through bolt openings 81 in the flange 79 and into threaded recesses 82 in the flange to secure the bottom plate in position. The upper disc 75 of the bottom closure plate, as defined by the shoulder 82 and the medial portion, forms a seat upon which the lower plate 71 of the steering ring seats. The distance between the upper face of the disc 75 of the closure plate and the lower face of the upper closure plate 29 is such as to provide for positioning and movement of the steering ring, it being obvious from an inspection of the disclosure that the clearances are so limited as to retain the steering ring against any movement other than that provided for by the assembly to produce the essential movement of the propeller blades.

In the structure of Figs. 4, 5 and 6 it is necessary before removing the bottom closure plate 75'76 to fasten the steering ring to the lower face of the upper closure plate and this is accomplished by bolts 85 which extend through bolt openings 86 in the upper section 70 of the steering ring. The bolts are threaded to engage the threads in the bolt openings 87 in the top plate 29 of the shell. To provide for the seating of these bolts in these bolt openings the lower section 71 of the steering ring is provided with access openings 88 which register with the openings 89 in the top disc 75 of the lower plate. Plugs 90 close aligned openings 91 in the lower disc '76 of the lower closure plate. By this arrangement when it is desired to remove the lower closure plate 75-76, the plugs 90 are removed from the lower disc 76 and the bolts 85 are inserted into the openings 86 in the upper section of the steering ring and threaded into the opening 87 in the top closure plate 29. When this is done the lower closure plate 75-76 of the shell structure can be dropped to permit access to the interior of the shell for inspection or repair.

In Fig. 5 the propeller shank 15 is shown connected with the connecting rod 92 which is pivoted at 93 to the steering ring. The access openings 88 in the steering ring are spaced laterally, of the pins 93 for the connecting rods 92.

What I claim is:

l. A vertical axis propeller assembly comprising a vertical drive shaft having a large central opening therethrough and a flanged lower portion, upper and lower ring plates, the upper ring plate being secured to the flange on the drive shaft, a cylindrical wall connecting the upper and lower ring plates, the cylindrical wall having a plurality of arcuate openings, propeller shafts supported on the plates, the propeller shafts carrying propellers, propeller adjusting rods extending through the arcuate openings in the cylindrical wall and connected to the propellers for controlling the pitch of the propellers, a supporting plate mounted on the upper ring plate, a closure plate mounted on the lower ring plate, a steering ring supported beneath the supporting plate, the steering ring having upper and lower plates removably secured together, cross head bearings mounted between the steering ring plates and receiving the inner ends of the said rods, means in the steering ring for reciprocating the rods, theupper plate of the steering ring having a bearing therein, a control lever extending vertically through the opening in the drive shaft and having its end in the said last named bearing, means for removably securing the upper steering ring plate to the said supporting plate, whereby the closure plate and the lower of the steering ring plates may be removed to provide access to the interior of the steering ring for inspection or repair.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for securing the upper steering ring plate to the supporting plate consists of bolts passing through openings in the upper steering ring plate and screwed into threaded holes in the cover plate, the openings in the upper steering ring registeringwith the threaded holes in the cover plate only when the control lever is in the neutral position.

3. A vertical axis propeller assembly comprising a hollow drive shaft having a flanged lower portion, a control lever extending axially through the shaft, upper and lower ring plates, the upper plate being secured to the flange on the drive shaft, a cylindrical wall connecting the said ring plates, the said wall having a plurality of arcuate openings, propeller shafts having their ends mounted in said plates, the propeller shafts carrying propellers, a steering ring supported between the ring plates, control rods connected to the propellers and extending through the arcuate openings into the steering ring, means in the steering ring for operating the rods, a supporting plate having its outer edge supported on the upper ring plate, the steering ring comprising upper and lower plates removably secured tos e upper of said plates carrying a bearing into which the end of the control lever extends, the upper of said steering ring plates having means for removably securing it to the supporting plate, and when so secured permitting removal of the lower steering ring plate when the lower ring plate is removed and thereby affording access to the interior of the assembly for inspection or repair.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

